Power outage

[dkpate]

Here in the summer it gets to about 105*F, and in the winter it gets down to -10*F. I don't worry about power outages in the summer too much, but the heavy snow and ice storms are what worry me! We have alot of trees here, and that's the reason it went out today I believe, a tree fell on the power lines, or a mudslide. When I got to work today, I heard a tree break across the river. It POURED rain all day today...
Where is BC are you Green?

 

[Greenmaster]

I'm on Vancouver Island... mostly downed trees that make my power go out... from high winds

 

[dkpate]

Ah ok, well I am on the other side, the side that actually has 4 seasons LOL, not just rain. I am about 1.5 hours from Nelson, 30 miles from Idaho and 20 miles from BC.

 

[mike0513]

The normal computer UPSs don't have enough amp-hours to really be worth much - you might get 20-30 minutes out of it. Most UPSs are meant just to allow an orderly shutdown of your system, and are not a means for auxilliary power. Last time I checked, the Xantrex units went for around $150 or so.

[Edit: Oops... just clicked the "buy now" link at Xantrex and it looks like that unit is discontinued. No wonder... they were selling for about $150 and for what you got it was a steal. Looking at their site, I'm not sure what is replacing that unit, but you want something that has a 30-40 amp-hr battery capacity/rating. That will give you a reasonable amount of standby time.]

using a deep cycle battery u can get upwards of 70 amp-hrs with one battery for the same price. all depends on how nice you want it to look and how long you need it to run for

 

[tw0lves]

I'm suprised no one has said, if your lights are off because you don't have 'em on a battery or gen. Don't forget to turn your CO2 off. I would also think running an air pump and stone and keeping the lid closed would keep your temps up longer than pouring water or running a fan on the tank if temps are the main concern.

 

[meegosh]

Most CO2 setups have a solenoid which is normally closed, meaning no power, no CO2. I guess a DIY setup you would have to concerned with that. Good point tw0lves.

 

[Greenmaster]

Air exchange and temp are of equal concern. Without the O2 the fish die.

 

[HeathB]

Ha, I think I'd rather try to build a fire pit in my room before chucking out the cash on a ups for only a few hours of energy, especially knowing how lazy the power company can be about getting the power back up sometimes.

 

[Greenmaster]

Ya the UPS is only for automated turn on just in case you don't notice ie: your sleeping, personally I like the Idea of getting a cheep UPS and rigging Deep Cycle batteries to it. (the whole set-up is way less then the cost of most peoples livestock not to mention the time it takes to get the system running again after a crash)